Archon Commander Concept

Co-op Missions Discussion
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Hello all, was browsing and found this topic :My three archons! - #3 by SaiyanViking-1196 and began wondering if we could implement this idea into coop somehow, probably as a commander. I know the old forums had several posts discussing archon-based commanders, but i think its a good idea; the only problem is avoiding overlap with Dehaka’s Primal Combat mechanic.

The main mechanic gimmick i imagine for a commander based on a themed archon army would be early game, permanent faction selection. After a certain point (maybe where a cybernetics core would usually be in the tech tree), players must pick one of several factions, and all future buildings, upgrades, and units would be based on that faction. Each faction would have individual, distinct options for everything from base units to special abilities.

[bonus points to the devs if the skins all change after selection. that’d be awesome]

The easiest factions i can think of would be the Templar (light), Nerazim(twilight), and Tal’darim(dark), purifier(mech). The main unit of each faction would be an archon, produced from gateways as a unit, without needing to build high Templar (or anything else) first.

It might be interesting to consider conditional factions; on CoA the player gets buffs for playing Tal’darim, or gets them on Malwarfare if they play purifier. Perhaps a similar mechanic could be used regarding which commander you are paired with: pairing with art or karax buffs the Templar, while paring with Vora buffs the nerazim.

As always, opinions welcome and (constructive) criticism expected. Thanks in advance!

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That’s already in the game. We call it the commander select screen.

Joking aside, I think having a commander who can only ever use 1/4 their distinct units in a mission is weird design. Imagine leveling this Commander and having to learn 4 sets of units and upgrades, what each one is good for, and which make the most sense in a game situation.

What units other than archons do you intend to include? If you want the commander to be centered around archons, mass archon will just end up being really good in comparison to any other strategy or unit. (Look at raynor or stukov).

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I see what you’re saying, it would be difficult to learn, but I think it would allow for a very high skill ceiling and reward players dramatically for being able to read the enemy build very early.

I’m thinking that each faction would have parallel unit styles, with differences coming from the chosen faction; this would simplify things dramatically. Ex: the Templar get zealots and the nerazim get centurians, etc.

Each faction would need:

  • a meat-shield (zelot)

  • specialized AA (phoenix, stalker, and/or voids)

  • mobility (calldown/warp prisms/etc)

  • early game calldown, since archons can’t help with first wave. no clue what would be good here.

I don’t have a full commander build prepared or anything here, just voicing ideas i think would be interesting to see. If the only build is mass archons post-faction decision, that seems fine to me. I’d expect that each version of the archons has different abilities (storm, MC, etc.), and uses these + the other units for support.

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I dunno man, it just seems like a LOT of effort to make essentially 4 barebones factions to pick between for one commander. I’d rather just have the commander have access to a couple kinds of archons and other units. All this stuff about changing building skins is cool in theory but the amount of work, and potentially new models it’d take, for how miniscule the payoff is, I’m just not really seeing it.

I think you also need a bit more to the idea than just ‘can make different archons’. WHAT is actually different about these Archons? What do they do differently than Vorazun and Artanis’s in particular? What does the commander have going for them other than Archons, and/or how does their other stuff feed into Archons to make them what you termed as an Archon commander?

I don’t mean to be difficult or rude, and I apologize if I am coming off as such. It just seems like it’d be better to have a more fleshed out idea rather than arguing about a high effort low payoff mechanic like building skins.

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So basically someone with suggested high APM finds co op non competitive? Well duh!? It’s PvE, I love that each commander has their own unique concept. As far as using them goes there is a low APM and a high APM approach to everything, not to mention how infinite strats get when you start playing around with custom macros and settings.

Though I shouldn’t talk since I’m an adaptive player, I take what I am given and find a way to have fun with it rather then imposing into it or throwing out suggestions.

Again, purely my thoughts, not imposing them onto you. I say that even though I didn’t event commend on this concept directly (cause ppl will always find a reason to complain about anything).

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Welcome then, you are the second person after me suggesting an Archon commander.

Am currently working on that commander concept. Will let you know when finished.

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Glad to hear that someone more motivated than I is working on this. Thank you :joy:.
I’m more than willing to act as a sounding board for ideas, if you need it.

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This should be the old thread

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Not to be ‘that guy’. But I can see how having your screen filled with multi-colored Archons of various sizes might and probably will cause seizures to the high graphics ‘eye-candy’ players. :sweat:

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@Borsalino
We got plenty of Models left unused and it’s not like we use all of them in a single match so it’s not that bad.

@Volsarex
Well, i am not finished with the detailed version but better keep this topics floating. People these days seem to have a phobia of not wanting to disturb old threads.

My commander for this concept would be a team of 4 with Adun as the Leader. It turned into
_ Purifier Adun: Adun spirit from the void that possesses the body of a purifier to interact with the physical universe.

_ Anakh Su’n Tassadar: Anakh Su’n, according to the lore is a prophecy of the Nerazim which are the ‘Twilight Deliverer’ who combine Khalai and Void energy. His spirit was awaken by Adun near Aiur.

_ Matriarch Raszagal: Mother of Vorazun. Her shadow was found by Adun near the rubble of Shakuras

_ Former First Ascendant Nuroka: According to the lore, he is very loyal to Amon and is the most zealous to the point of carving Amon’s words on his body. He is also the first Tal’darim to know of Amon’s treachery. Angered by this revelation, Nuroka cut all the carving from his skin and conspired with Alarak to challenge Ma’lash in Rak’Shir which Alarak turned on Nuroka. His Vengeful wraith is recruited by Adun on Slayn.

Gameplay - you have to choose 2 commanders out of the 4 in your Nexus every mission before you can build a Gate Way. Each commander will provide a different set of upgrade and special units. The first chosen commander, however, will decide which Epic unit you are allowed to trained.

Unit - have 3 category of units
Core units are which available regardless what commanders you chose in the beginning of the mission.
Special units are available to only the commanders that you chose.
Epic units are only available to the 1st commander you chose. Since you have to choose 2 out of 4, the 1st of the 2 is the one decide the Epic units.

Core

Judicator (Zealot variant) they use Judicator skin of the Zealot. They are rallied to join the fight by Tassadar. While cost 125 mineral, attack slower and have only 40 health, they possess 200 shield and have a ‘Volatile Shield’ ability - when shield depleted, it explode deal damage equal to 20% the maximum shield value to all enemies nearby with 30s cooldown to prevent repetitive abuse.

Fanatic (Adept variant) Nuroka’s loyal followers who despise Alarak’s betrayal. Create a shade that deal 200% and take 100% damage after death for 7 seconds. Attack range x2 against air.

Signifier (Cancelled High Templar variant) Raszagal’s disciplines. Have the Vision ability (Temporarily boost Signifier’s sight range x2 and grant them detection for 15s. 20s cooldown), Oracle (Buff an allied unit, that unit have 40% chance to reduce the incoming damage by 40%), Dimensional Shift (auto become invulnerable and have speed x2 when receive attack that reduce health below 50%. Cooldown 1.5 minute).

Crusader (Purifier Dark Templar) employed by Adun. Have Permanent Cloaked ability. “I am still trying to add some abilities for this unit but don’t know what could be used”

Epic
All the epic units are heroic so only some abilities can affect them.

Progenitor (Colossus Variant) The beginning of the Purifier program and only available to Adun as the 1st commander. These experimental units are expensive and powerful. It is big enough to hold a Solar core within itself. Arming with self-tracking solar lances (100 damage per second x2). Its legs can walk through Terrain and units. Deal 300 damage to all enemy when die. Have 500health and shield / 600m - 300g - 10 supply

Constellation (Carrier Variant) In the image of the Gantrithor, these super carriers symbolize the height of the Protoss civilization when they shine like a constellation, only available to Tassadar as 1st commander. Have the same health and shield as Gantrithor but 5 armor. Hold 10 interceptors. Have 2 mini corsair escort that fly near it and auto target air units. When mini corsair die, Constellation can rebuild it in 10s at 0 cost. Constellation also have double capacity which mean they build 2 interceptor or corsair at the same time. / 750m - 300g - 12 supply. Limit to 5 at the same time.

Titan Prism (Warp Prism variant) A massive war prism the same kind as the one encountered in Ulnar in the Temple of Unification mission, it is only available to Nuroka. This ship move at the same speed as carrier and have the same health as a Nexus. It have photon cannons x3. When in Deploy mode, it can not move but its attack range will increase by 2. The deploy mode allows it to turn into a Warp Gate which can warp in Judicator, Fanatic, Signifier and Crusader (it have 5 charges). It also provide a pylon field that have x2 the range of normal pylon. Have an aura that buffs protoss unit’s shield Armor by 1 in both mode. This aura stacks with aura from other Titan Prism which mean the more Titan prism the more shield armor your unit have. / 800m - 500g - 10 supply. Limit to 3 units at the same time.

Mega Archon (the cancelled Archon) Create by fusing 2 archons together, only available to Raszagal as 1st commander. “I am still trouble with what ability to give to this unit so suggestion is appreciated”

The rest is still underdevelopment so will report to you later.

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That could be a balance issue.